We woke up bright and early this morning for an 8am start. It was time to check out of our hotel in Boston and make a move for New York, so we all piled into the bus and set on our way, sing-songing and showtuning and . . . well . . . well, really, we used a whole lot of the bus travel to rehearse some of our competition pieces. It was a good opportunity to really focus in on some key areas.

Arriving in New York, we were split into two groups. Most of the guys are staying at the Pod Hotel, while the girls and the left over guys are at Beekman Tower Hotel. We had time to put our gear into our rooms and freshen up a little before rushing down to the lobby, realising we were behind schedule already (how did that happen?).

Just a few blocks away, we attended the Orientation for The Rhythms of One World 2012 International Choral Festival along with the Signal Hill Alumni Choir, from the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Both choirs then travelled to Merkin Hall where we saw the Norwegian Girls Choir perform their concert, “Ro-Uro”. As we waiting in the foyer, we spoke with our PR co-ordinator about going on The Today Show. Turns out we may be doing that. Wow. So tune in, everyone! We’ll be there Wednesday morning, performing a song or two, but I’m not sure what that means about when it goes to air. I assume from the title of the show it’ll be the same day, but that may depend on how well we perform.

Then came the time to watch the Norwegian Girls Choir. I have to say, as an alto, I was blown away by how well their altos substituted for the deep notes we get from our basses. It is impossible to adequately convey how amazing the choir’s performance was, especially of the last piece, Ro-Uro, which was written specifically for them.

From there we went to dinner at the Hard Rock Café, where we met all the choirs participating in the Rhythms of One World concert. Each choir performed one piece during dinner – ours was Waltzing Matilda, with choralography.

There is not much else I can say about the quality of the other choirs than “wow”. I’m really looking forward to hearing more from them, and although I think my favourite is still the Norwegian Girls Choir, the others aren’t far behind.

So yes, readers, we are now seasoned performers of the Hard Rock Café. The ride home was filled with glee, tiredness, and surprise when a pedestrian on a crossing stepped out in front of a police car that had its sirens going so it could get through traffic. Took him a while to get out of the way, and the coach driver told us, “That’s New York for you.” All I can say is I’m glad my job here is to do the singing and not the driving.